IUCN status: Extinct
Last seen: Caloprymnus campestris were last seen in 1935 in Ooroowilanie, east of Lake Eyre (IUCN 2023)
IUCN claim: “Extinction is considered to have been due to predation by red foxes and feral cats.”
Desert rat kangaroos were last confirmed 56-60 years after cats arrived (Current submission).
No studies
There are no studies evidencing a link between cats and the
extinction of desert rat kangaroos. The two species coexisted for over
half a century.
Evidence linking Caloprymnus campestris to cats. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008.
Abbott, The spread of the cat, Felis catus, in Australia: re-examination of the current conceptual model with additional information. Conservation Science Western Australia 7 (2008).
Current submission (2023) Scant evidence that introduced predators cause extinctions.
IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023